Thursday, December 2, 2010

The no-kill policy adopted a year ago is resulting in more dog adoptions, the Nova Scotia SPCA says.
For decades, the agency euthanized thousands of animals at its shelters province-wide. The only animals that face euthanasia now are animals that are sick or aggressive. That remains the case even when shelters are full, which is often, executive director Kristin Williams said. "That's part of the no-kill equation … that we will not euthanize for space. That's not something that we consider anymore," Williams said. What they do consider is the high demand for dogs in Halifax. Sydney shelter manager Patsy Rose said the solution is a transfer system between communities. For example, twice a month, a staff member from Cape Breton meets with Halifax staff using an SPCA van. "We put the dogs in that and they meet us in Antigonish and we transfer the animals from our vehicle to their vehicle and they drive back to Halifax with them and they find new homes for them," Rose said. The no-kill policy also applies to cats, but since every shelter in the province is full, transferring them is not an option.